Top Oversight Dem calls on Vance to testify: 'This continues to get more and more crazy every day'

[0:00] We're going to speak with one of those Democrats right now, ranking member of the House Oversight [0:04] Committee. Congressman Robert Garcia of California joins us. Congressman, beyond Blanche, you say you [0:10] want to bring in more people from this administration. Who else do you want to hear from? [0:17] Well, look, obviously, Todd Blanche is near the top of the list, but there's been now new bombshell [0:21] reporting where we have learned, as you know, that J.D. Vance, the vice president, has been [0:26] holding meetings in the Situation Room, which is used for national security purposes just [0:31] to discuss Epstein, and looking at ways of exonerating President Trump, coming up with [0:37] strategy on how they're going to use Ghislaine Maxwell to clear Trump's name. And the vice [0:41] president, for the very first time, is now implicated in part of this cover-up. He's meeting with [0:46] Susie Wiles. He's meeting with Kash Patel. He's meeting with Todd Blanche. He's meeting with [0:51] Pam Bondi. And so it is now important that we, at some point, this committee has to talk to [0:57] the vice president. We have to talk to Susie Wiles. And none of us, before this reporting [1:02] yesterday, had any idea that the vice president of the United States is holding Situation Room [1:08] meetings to talk about Epstein Files' strategy and involved in this massive cover-up. And so, [1:14] look, Todd Blanche is important. He clearly caused major damage. He's not released all the files. But [1:20] the vice president has a lot to answer for. Why is he trying to use Ghislaine Maxwell to exonerate [1:24] the president? Would Comer be on board to try to bring the vice president in before your committee? [1:34] Look, I'm not sure that Comer is going to go in that direction. He's stonewalled a lot of our [1:39] efforts. He finally agreed to bring in, of course, Todd Blanche just yesterday after saying for weeks [1:44] that he wasn't going to do so. But we're going to push. Look, when the vice president of the United [1:49] States is holding Situation Room meetings, talking about strategy, suggesting that Tucker Carlson [1:55] should be sent to interview Ghislaine Maxwell to exonerate Donald Trump? I mean, give me a break. [2:01] I mean, this continues to get more and more crazy every day. Just the insanity of the chaos that's [2:10] happening inside the White House around Epstein. We know that the Epstein investigation is the most [2:15] bipartisan issue in the country. Republicans and Democrats care about justice for the survivors. [2:20] And we want to know why the chief of staff to the president and why the vice president are holding [2:25] these secret meetings in the Situation Room. And I hear there is more reporting ahead. We're going to [2:30] learn a lot more about what's going on in these meetings. Any movement on getting Blanche's testimony [2:37] on the books? And do you expect this to happen before his confirmation hearings in the Senate? [2:44] Look, I expect that during his confirmation hearings, he's going to get a lot of questions about [2:48] the Epstein investigation. But look, Chairman Comer just yesterday agreed to having Todd Blanche [2:53] come in. And so we're pushing that. What do you think made him change his mind? [2:56] Our request is simple. I hope public pressure. I hope the fact that the American public [3:02] is demanding and saying that we demand answers from Blanche. It's also the survivors. The survivors [3:07] have been in unison calling on Comer to ensure that Blanche comes in front of our committee and answer [3:13] questions. But our requests are simple. If you're going to bring the attorney general or the nominee [3:18] to be AG, it has to be under oath and it has to be videotaped. And better yet, do a public hearing. [3:25] That way there's full transparency. And Chairman Comer continues to have these interviews in private, [3:31] not on video, and then releases the transcript at a later time. That is not full transparency. [3:36] So we're again demanding a videotaped deposition available to the American people. [3:41] Could Blanche, do you think, evoke executive privilege? [3:45] Look, certainly he could try. But at the end of the day, at the end of the day, [3:52] administration officials are coming before Congress all the time. And they have responsibility [3:56] to the Constitution, to their job, to their agency. If you think you're going to be the attorney [4:00] general and not appear before the Congress, you can give me a break. Who do you work for? [4:04] The attorney general's job is not to protect or be the lawyer for the president of the United States. [4:08] It's to actually serve justice in this country. And so Todd Blanche needs to learn that lesson. [4:13] The Senate needs to hold his feet to the fire. And he needs to come in front of the oversight [4:17] committee to answer questions, including about the vice president and what the vice president is [4:21] saying in the situation room about President Trump. Democrats walked out when Blanche came before [4:27] the committee in March for that closed door briefing. If Blanche offers to appear in a similar [4:32] setting or he refuses to cooperate with your terms for this to be videotaped and under oath, [4:37] do you have bipartisan support to actually subpoena him to kind of force his hand? [4:41] I think we will. And look, let's be really clear about when when Todd Blanche and Pam Bondi [4:46] came to see us, that was not a hearing. It was not videotaped. It was not under oath. [4:51] It was supposed to be a roundtable update. They set it up like some sort of fake hearing [4:55] that was not going to be accessible to the American public. So we're not going to play games [4:59] with the administration. We're not going to sit around and allow the administration to roll over us [5:04] and write their own story. We're going to hold them accountable. And so what we're demanding [5:09] is a public hearing or a deposition that's available videotaped under oath and accessible [5:15] to the American public. That's what we need. And that's what Todd Blanche should be doing right [5:19] now. And quite frankly, the entire administration should be answering questions around this Epstein [5:24] White House coverup. Congressman, before we go, I want to get your top takeaways from the two [5:29] interviews you had this week. Epstein's former assistant, Leslie Groff on Tuesday, Bill Gates [5:33] just yesterday. Did either of their answers move your investigation forward in a significant way? [5:39] Did you learn anything new? We did. Look, I think a couple of things on Ms. Groff. I think [5:46] she's someone that we're going to, quite frankly, want to continue to talk to. She worked for Jeffrey [5:51] Epstein for 18 years. She set up meetings for massages, for meat, for requests for travel. She did [5:59] all sorts of things, including with people that were victimized by Ghislaine Maxwell and, of course, [6:05] by Jeffrey Epstein. And so to her, she has tried to exonerate herself. She's tried to say she knew [6:10] nothing. I don't find her to be a very credible witness, quite frankly. There's a lot of information [6:16] that the survivors actually dispute that Ms. Groff has said. And so I think that's going to be an [6:21] important conversation and additional conversation that will need to happen in the future. [6:25] She did, however, provide some additional names of people that we need to speak with. And so there [6:31] will be follow-ups there. As relates to Mr. Gates, he clearly said sorry and feels, I think, horrible [6:38] about his interactions with Epstein. But at the same time, why do these powerful men continue to [6:44] pow around, to have meetings with, to request money or services from a convicted sex trafficker, [6:53] from someone that admitted to actually sexual crimes to a minor? Mr. Gates knew that information. [7:00] He knew of the crime and continued to have interactions with Mr. Epstein. That's wrong. [7:05] I'm glad he's admitted that. But there's still a lot more questions there that we've got to get answers to.